“The image and spirit of the leopard is an inspiration to millions around the world, including myself,” Twain said in a press release. “That it is also the most oppressed of the big cats is almost unknown. If we’re to save this animal in the wild, we have to get ahead of the curve before it suffers the same fate as so many other species that we once felt to be secure in their numbers. I feel privileged to give back to a creature that depends for its future on what we do now to save it…and I urge the wider world to join Panthera and me in this mission.”

Currently, leopards are threatened by the destruction of their habitat and are being killed by livestock herders, trophy-hunting and poaching their skins and body parts. Project Pardus will launch new conservation initiatives that will target endangered leopards.